Letters to the Editor
-
grad student
are you in the medical field? wasn't my father Great! and weren't the two related reasons, just about what i said? (except that i was more sarcastic, less scientific). all 3 of my kids were born in hospitals - the one in the poorer neighborhood was just as good and much more loving (and labor was only 10 minutes - after the rushed-down cab ride). the other two were in a fancy hospital which specialized in what i called the "dead baby clinic" - extreme premies. looked like drowned rats. they didn't even bother picking up healthy babies - weird. just weird. even teeny tiny, healthy babies are really nice - no matter how they came out the chute. but i think that the mother's recovery must be easier with natural birth.
-
It's about getting the baby here safely
After giving birth twice (recently, at that) in a progressive community and revelling in all manner of my friends' birth stories, I have to say this: Too often women (yes, you Ricki Lake) are making childbirth about themselves, their experience. It's not about how you feel while giving birth, if it's some fantastically satisfying and "healing" event in your life. Ideally, giving birth would be all those things. But, really, childbirth is about getting the baby here -- and out of you -- safely and in good health by whatever means necessary.
Both of my deliveries were difficult; both babies got stuck in the chute. My vagina is also awesome, but not so awesome that it could change the way my second baby was facing or get both of her shoulders out from under my pelvic bone. My doctor did that. If I had attempted "natural" childbirth at home -- or even with a less skilled OB/GYN -- at the very least my child would be damaged, likely dead, and I could've very well died along with her.
That's the reality of childbirth. It's not all golden sunshine and immediate bonding. Bad things naturally happen, as they do everywhere in nature. The experience of labor and delivery is brief -- guilt and sorrow over babies needlessly hurt or dead last forever. Why risk your baby's life?
I'll say this, too: Both of my babies had to go to the nursery for oxygen and observation. My husband/their father was with them every moment they were not with me. I was frantic with worry and fear -- welcome to parenthood! -- but they were bonding with their dad. And I would again gladly give up those first hours with them in order to not risk their lives.
They're alive! They're here! I don't give a damn that I couldn't walk for hours or pee for days or couldn't cuddle them to my breast all covered in goo. They live, they breathe, we love.
-
awesome vagina?
In her sixth month of pregnancy, was Ricki "Go Ricki" Lake thinking about her awesome vagina as an awesome milking device to coax semen from her partner or as an awesomely elastic passage from her truly awesome uterus into the world? I'd hate to think that someone producing a movie on pregnancy and birth would confuse vagina with uterus and get them ass bakcwards.
-
childbirth in other places
I live in Scandinavia, where it is true that most births are in hospitals, but they are mostly more like your 'natural births', as they are generally supervised by midwifes, no drugs, and with the doctors only on call. Often the births happen in 'clinics' a special part of the hospital, with baths and space for the rest of the family.
In Holland, most births are at home, with midwifes only.
People from the UK, US and southern Europe generally find this all very uncomfortable. So I'd say, each to her own taste. One shouldn't force anyone to give birth in a way that scares them. But I do think it's kind of sad that we are having more c-sections because of the influence from other countries. And I know of at least two cases where doctors bungled up and the baby died - maybe because many doctors don't have enough experience here.
What on earth is a doula?
I have two girls, both born naturally in the hospital. The first was in a breach position, and they asked if I would give it a try for research, since they'd like to monitor the procedure. As far as I remember, both to see if more women should give birth naturally, even when the child is in a difficult presentation, and to prepare for emergencies, where surgery can't be done.
That meant that 7 people were in the room, including a surgeon, a pediatrician and an obstetrician, but the whole procedure was completely led by the midwife.
The worst part about it was that I had to stay lying on my back to facilitate the research thing.
I agree that the US statistics are probably not easily compared to ours. The whole welfare state system means even our slums are more like normal suburbs in the US, and everyone has access to the best hospitals. Also, we don't have teen pregnancies, and not least: ALL pregnant women are closely monitored.
-
Ricky Lake's "awesome" vagina
This has to be the worst headline I have ever seen on a supposedly serious article. It could come straight out of The Onion.
Just putting the image of Ricky Lake's vagina in someone's mind is quite enough to put them off their breakfast, even if it doesn't actually have much to do with the article, which it doesn't.
-
Midwifery
We had our two daughters at home with a midwife assisting. It was wonderful and magical. I got to do the delivery and felt them take their first breaths.
Now that's against the law.
That's a crime.
-
Thanks, Adar, for the CNM plug
The first time I gave birth, in a hospital, was a great lesson - a textbook illustration of why Lake and Epstein are so passionate in their advocacy for home births. But I am a practical sort, and knew that things can go wrong and go wrong very quickly. Plus, I couldn't imagine my then-husband being willing to clean up and I knew I'd want to be waited on and get some rest afterward. A five-star hotel would have been great, but it wasn't a realistic option. So I did some homework, and like Adar, chose the Certified-Nurse-Midwives-in-hospitals route. My second and third births were as different from the first as it was possible for births to be, as was the pre-natal care experience. Still, I ended up with exactly what I did the first time - and really the only thing that mattered in the end - beautiful healthy babies, all of whom have grown up to be lovely young women.